Long summer days in Iceland's highlands
While many parts of this volcanic island are barren, there is a 'desolate beauty' to be found in every corner

Ravaged by extreme weather and volcanic activity, the highlands of Iceland are all but barren in parts. But the region has a "desolate beauty" that has long stirred imaginations and inspired myth and folklore, said Daniel Stables in National Geographic Traveller.
Extending to more than 16,000 square miles, the uplands make up 40% of the island's landmass, and yet snowfall renders them inaccessible by road for much of the year. The time to explore them is the summer, when more than 21 hours of diurnal sunlight "cast the landscape in a soft glow". Days "feel like an endless dream", and you don't need to strike out far across the hills, on foot or in a 4WD, to leave all obvious signs of civilisation behind.
On a five-day, self-driving trip with Hidden Iceland, guests stay at the recently opened Highland Base, a minimalist, timber-clad lodge with its own thermal baths, set beneath the snowcapped, 1,477m-high peak of Kerlingarfjöll. Between two glaciers nearby lies the "unearthly" plain of Kjölur, with its huge black volcanic rocks. Here, at Beinahóll, four farmers died while travelling across Iceland in 1780. There were rumours of ghostly intervention – their bodies were found buried beneath a rock in 1845, just where a sorcerer had told their families they would be. And even now, the ground around the basalt pillar raised in their memory is still scattered with the bones of the livestock that perished with them.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ten miles further on, the geothermal valley of Hveradalir is like a hellish, "hostile moon", with its boiling mud pools and its steaming fumaroles. But the grassy river canyon beside it is named after Asgard, the domain of the Norse gods, and it is quite "heavenly", its hot pools cool enough for a delightful dip.
The valley of Thórsmörk ("Forest of Thor"), far to the south, is even more lush. Its green hills are scattered with wildflowers and mossy rocks, but they plunge down to a black plain across which "braided" rivers meander like "a nest of silvery snakes".
The trip costs from £1,980pp, excluding flights (hiddeniceland.is).
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Twitter: Breaking the Bird – a 'riveting' documentary
The Week Recommends BBC2's 'fascinating' film charts the social media platform's fall from grace
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Detentions and hostile treatment: is it safe to visit the US?
The Explainer Spate of interrogations and deportations at US border sparking decline in overseas visitors
By The Week UK Published
-
The financial changes to expect in 'Awful April'
The Explainer As the new financial year begins, it brings changes for bills, wages and tax
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
Adolescence and the toxic online world: what's the solution?
Talking Point The hit Netflix show is a window into the manosphere, red pills and incels
By The Week UK Published
-
Snow White: Disney's 'earnest effort to meet an impossible brief'
Talking Point Live-action remake of Disney classic is not the disaster it could have been – but where's the personality?
By The Week UK Published
-
Don McCullin picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends The photojournalist shares works by Daniel Defoe, Lesley Blanch and Roland Philipps
By The Week UK Published
-
6 breathtaking homes in capital cities
Feature Featuring a glass conservatory in Atlanta and a loft library in Boston
By The Week US Published
-
Playhouse Creatures: 'dream-like' play is 'lively, funny and sharp-witted'
Anna Chancellor offers a 'glinting performance' alongside a 'strong' supporting cast
By The Week UK Published